Workers’ Compensation · Primary-source case analysis

Brower: Permanent-Disability Advances Follow the Temporary-Disability Cap

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published May 4, 2026 · Updated October 18, 2026

Decision: Brower v. David Jones Constr., No. ADJ802221 (SJO 0258870) (WCAB May 21, 2014) (en banc).

Brower separates the date a benefit became legally due from the date a check was actually paid and the later date the worker’s condition stabilized. That distinction changed both the permanent-total-disability start date and the cost-of-living adjustments. The case also explains why a credit for earlier payments required its own analysis, rather than simply ignoring or relabelling those checks.

Temporary disability exhausted before final status

For Brower’s 2005 injury, the statutory entitlement to temporary total disability ended on December 20, 2007. The carrier nevertheless continued those payments through January 31, 2008, then paid permanent-disability advances at $270 per week. The judge later began permanent-total benefits only at the 2011 permanent-and-stationary date, when the condition was treated as stabilized. The dispute was not four years without any indemnity payments: Partial advances had been paid. It concerned the correct entitlement date and rate for that interval. Brower, slip opinion, pages 1–3, 6.

Permanent-disability advances should begin

The Board held that when temporary-disability entitlement stops under section 4656(c) before permanent-and-stationary status, required permanent-disability advances are based on a reasonable estimate, even though the final disability percentage cannot yet be determined. That estimate is not itself a final finding of total disability. The opinion also recognizes section 4650(b)(2)’s specified return-to-work and work-offer exceptions to pre-award payments. Do not assume every worker must immediately receive advances or use this 2005 injury’s TD limit for every later injury. Brower, slip opinion, pages 9–13.

A later total award reaches back to entitlement

Brower’s final permanent-total rate was $675.65 per week before later adjustments, rather than the $270 partial-advance rate. The Board made permanent-total benefits payable from December 21, 2007, not from the later stabilization date. It separately exercised discretion to credit the TD paid beyond the cap: PTD was ultimately owed at the same weekly rate, and the credit would not disrupt the purpose of the second benefit. This was a reasoned credit ruling, not a blanket entitlement to offset any overpayment against any award. Brower, slip opinion, pages 13–17.

COLA timing follows entitlement

The Board fixed the first cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) at January 1, 2008, following the December 21, 2007 permanent-disability entitlement date. Waiting until the carrier paid at the correct rate or until the later award would have used the wrong event in this case. Brower, slip opinion, pages 14–17.

For a payment review, keep four entries separate: The statutory TD-ending date; each actual TD or PD payment and the period it covered; the legally determined PTD-start date; and each applicable annual adjustment. Then identify the credit the award permits. Do not multiply one weekly difference across the entire period without accounting for COLAs and payments already credited. These dates and historical rates explain this decision; they do not calculate another worker’s award.

Key takeaways

• Calendar the temporary-disability cap and anticipated transition.
• Use a reasonable disability estimate for required advances.
• Reconcile partial advances with any later permanent-total award.
• Calculate COLAs from the legally determined entitlement date.

Discussed in: California Permanent Disability Advances: Payment Timing and Settlement Credits; Disability and Medical Benefits in California Workers’ Compensation; California Workers’ Compensation Law and Benefit Disputes.